One of the things that any landlord should know is about applicant screening when they are looking for tenants. Tenant screening is very important. Even though some of the scam artists can be hard to detect, there’s some common attempts with regards to fraud that you can catch fairly easily. Here are some of the things that might indicate that the person is trying to scam you or that they might have something to hide.

Be ready to reject an application that’s incomplete. If the person didn’t provide information, there’s a good chance that they are hiding something that they don’t want you to know.

If the application’s complete, read all the documentation the person provides and search for inconsistencies. Sometimes it’s a mistake but other times it’s going to indicate a problem.

Get your prospective tenant to give you rent receipts for the last 90 days at the current address. Is that address that’s on the receipt consistent with the person’s current address on their application? Is their name on that receipt consistent with the applicant’s name?

If you can, look at the applicant’s car’s license plate. Is it from that state that’s indicated on their application? Is that the same model, make, and plate number that’s indicated on their application?